Ford Kuga review

Up front, this is almost all from the Focus. The steering wheel, with over 20 buttons on well-specced versions, along with the dashboard architecture and main console is all from the Focus, which in turn is barely changed from the Fiesta. This means the same’s true of those cars – great ergonomics (easy-to-use chunky heater controls, touchscreen right in your eyeline) but a pretty grey, dowdy ambience. 

Ford’s added a diamond-y motif to the doors in the Kuga, but it’s still fairly uninspiring to sit in, and the hard plastics on the door handles are a constant reminder that this isn’t a premium-chasing machine like a Peugeot 3008. However, it’s a lot easier to operate than a Vauxhall Grandland or even an Audi Q3, on account of being blessed with a much simpler touchscreen. 

HOW’S THE TECH?

The 12.3-inch digital display available on higher spec versions is a showroom winner but, besides its multiple-colour-schemes party trick as you cycle through the Kuga’s myriad driving modes, it’s not actually as adaptable as say, Peugeot or Audi’s alternative. On the plus side, it’s handy in the hybrid for its clear and simple renderings of what power source you’re using when, though you might find the pop-up of how much braking force was harvested into the battery every time you come to a halt a touch patronising. Thankfully you can turn it off. 

IS IT SPACIOUS AND COMFORTABLE?

Up front the seats are comfortable and electrically adjustable. In the back there’s room for two adults for long trips, but a third will have to straddle the transmission tunnel. You’d expect this to feel like a roomy bus, though: the Kuga is 44mm wider and 89mm longer than the outgoing model, while the wheelbase has increased by 20mm. It might not have had to grow so much had the bigger Ford Edge not been ditched from sale for being so miserably below par…

Happily, the bulbous side profile does mean the windows are allowed to be big and, well, glassy, rather than sporty and slitty, which makes the car feels airier in the back, and there’s the ever-popular (and ever-annoying in hot weather) option of a full-length glass roof, if you fancy a real-time demonstration of the greenhouse effect from May to October. 

Turning to the boot – after you’ve waited for a rather tardy electric tailgate to hoik itself outta the way – the loading aperture is as wide as you’d hope from an SUV, and the boot can be enlarged by sliding the rear seats forward though, really, does anyone ever actually deploy that feature, or set the seats once and then forget about it? It’s just as easy to flip the backrests down most of the time.